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NBC has settled on two new stars for “The Tonight Show”: Jimmy Fallon and New York City.

The network has made a commitment to Mr. Fallon, the current host of its “Late Night” program, for him to succeed Jay Leno as the next host of “Tonight,” according to several senior television executives involved in the decision. As part of the agreement, the show would move from Burbank, Calif., back to New York, where it started in 1954 with Steve Allen as host….

NBC has quietly begun work on a new studio in its headquarters building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza as the home for the new “Tonight Show,” two executives said. The studio is part of a general reconstruction of the building being undertaken by Comcast, which this week completed a full takeover of NBCUniversal.

Quietly tucked into tentative state budget is a provision that would help NBC move “The Tonight Show” back to New York, the Daily News has learned.

The provision would make state tax credits available for the producers of “a talk or variety program that filmed at least five seasons outside the state prior to its first relocated season in New York,” budget documents show.

Glad New York taxpayers could help out NBC and Jimmy with some long green.

Ed Kilgore
is a contributing writer to the Washington Monthly. He is managing editor for The Democratic Strategist and a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute. Find him on Twitter: @ed_kilgore.

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Comments

Bo on March 22, 2013 6:31 PM:

This will be an interesting story to follow. I have heard that Leno is already reaching a new level of snark with the jokes he's been cracking about NBC execs. I only know of this from second-hand reports because I haven't watched The Tonight Show ever since he elbowed O'Brien out so he could return to his old time slot. More than anything, that revealed his true character as far as I am concerned. Other than that, he has always struck me as an unfunny sycophant.

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